“Predictably, the impacts of accelerating technological and social changes on education are enormous. Today’s stakeholders in our youths’ future must prepare kids for futures that none of us can even dream are possible.” – John W. Moravec

I chose this quote from our Knowmad Society reading because it very much summarizes my reasoning for pursuing my degree in Instructional Design and Technology.

Since the creation of the internet and the ever-shrinking microcomputer, technology has become more and more embedded into our lives. It has made the world a global market and business is more mobile than ever. It’s only a matter of time before education, at any age, becomes just as mobile as our economy.

In my 13 years of teaching, I have watched and incorporated more and more technology into my classroom and work tools. Schools are now data-driven and that data is created and stored by students manipulating technology. Students, from the youngest to the oldest, have had to learn some sort of technology to function in the classroom. However, this isn’t enough. OUTSIDE the classroom, technology is driving the world. The education sector is stuck in the “Society 1.0” mode and the world around is headed to “Society 3.0.”

“Society 1.0 reflects the norms and practices of pre-industrial to industrial civilization. Society 2.0 refers to the radical social trans-formations that we are experiencing today, largely due to technological change. The 3.0 or Knowmad Society points to a state of society that is developing into our near future, where accelerating technological change is projected to have huge trans- formative implications.” (Knowmad Society, p. 35).

The major downfall to incorporating more technology into our classrooms is allowing the government to regulate the educational system. The government and our society has attempted to make education a way of profit for businesses and organizations. Instead of treating our children and their education as an investment of the future, organizations are trying to flood schools with the “modernized” version of the same resources for a quick buck and not teaching toward the future. The infrastructure of funding schools themselves is archaic and sets up those with the least chance of success to have the highest rate of failure with the school funding of local taxes. The whole educational system needs to be revamped. If the United States is to become a true powerhouse of the modern world, the current outlook of education within our society needs to be revamped by creating a more “socialist” view of how our education system should work. The true way to feed our capitalistic society is to give strength to our educational system for all students to have the knowledge to grow into successful people. Our current educational funding isn’t going to do this. All students need to have access to the latest technology to be able to become the free thinkers that is required for success in our post-industrial world. The fact that our government wants to water down public school funding with giving more funding to charter schools makes the epidemic worse. The need for charter schools would be non existent if we invested in the public schools we already have.

Education MUST be aligned with the demands of working society for the advancement and success of our students’ future and society. It is my intention, as a future online teacher, to be able to provide some of those tools to my students.

My name is Jessica Bresnahan and I have been an educator for 13 years. I have my bachelors degree from Purdue University in Elementary Education, my masters degree from University of Phoenix in Early Childhood Education and I am currently working toward an additional masters degree from University of West Florida in Instructional Design and Technology. I currently teach PreK and became a teacher because I love to learn and I hope sharing that love inspires others to become lifelong learners too. I created this page for my current course at UWF but I would like to keep it going as a reflection tool and a personal interest tracker in my personal journey of discovering types of media, especially online technology that will be useful as my career evolves into a mobile and online educator. I recognize that even after 13 years of teaching, I clearly do not know it all, especially as the large paradigm shift with embedding all types of technology within education becomes more prominent. I will be using this blog for my classmates at UWF as well as any educator that wants to join and share. Welcome!